When traveling, luggage is typically placed and left in positions that leave the luggage vulnerable to theft. Generally, items carried in a piece of luggage are protected only by an enclosure that zips together, and a zipper system can be easily compromised. For example, when the teeth of a zipper system are interlocked, the chain (e.g., interlocking teeth) can be punctured, and the teeth are then easily separated. After separating the zipper teeth, and after the thief removes the valuables from the piece of luggage, the thief can then use the one or more sliders of the zipper system to enmesh the opposing teeth back together. With the zipper teeth enmeshed or interlocked back together, the thief is able to conceal the fact that a zipper system has been compromised.
Previous efforts to secure the zipper system of luggage have not been fully satisfactory and have been ineffective in solving the problem. For example, padlocks have been used to secure a zipper system using two sliders. The shackle of a padlock may be passed through an opening of the pull tab of each slider or through lock “thread holes” associated with the zipper system. When locked, the padlock prevents the sliders from being pulled in opposite directions so that the sliders cannot be used to separate the opposing sets of teeth. However, the interlocked zipper chain can still be punctured (e.g., using a pen, knife or any other pointed or sharp object), and with the pair of sliders having freedom of motion, the sliders can be pulled across the punctured and now open area in the zipper system. As the pair of sliders are pulled across the punctured area, the opening in the zipper system is enmeshed or interlocked back together, and the evidence of the theft is concealed.
Current attempts to prevent and expose luggage theft have been less than ideal. Therefore, a need exists for an apparatus operable to restrict the movement of one or more sliders along a zipper chain.
Like reference numbers and designations in the various drawings indicate like elements.